Past
Merchants, entertainers, tellers of fortunes and keepers of lore, the Ra'Shari are all these things and more. Once keepers of wisdom in one of the most glorious temples ever seen in mortal realms, their path was forever changed during the Day of Wrath. Like so many others, they fled the destruction and were very nearly destroyed by their ignorance of how to survive in the harsh desert so much of their lands had become. It was the Ashalan, already foreseeing what was to come when next the Nameless Not-God rose, who gave them life and purpose, assigning to them the duty of preserving certain secrets from that time to this. Though divided in purpose, the four great Caravans yet maintained a sense of community, of unity of purpose, through means known only to themselves. Each foot would tread thousands of steps, yet always their presence was felt in and about the Jewel. There was, and still is, no place in the city one cannot go where they will not hear tales of both great daring and dark villainy about the Keepers of the Chronicles, half of which are true, and half of which are either gross exaggeration or completely unaware of the true role the wandering people played.
During the Awakening, it was the Ra'Shari's silvered tongue that swayed the invading forces from destroying the great lore of the Qabal, thus fulfilling their former role as sages. Their advice guided the mercy of the Ebonites, the salvation of so many fulfilling their former role as priests and protectors. When all was past, the Ra'Shari yet remained...and yet the duty that had driven them for a thousand years was gone, their purpose fulfilled. They rejoiced...and then, slowly, they began to wonder.
They were a free people now...but free to do what?
Present
Great debate has arisen among the People who Travel, though as of yet there is no true antagonism, only many choices to be weighed and measured. Some, primarily those of the Caravan of Mysticism, look upon the Jewel, the many areas yet razed and in need of rebuilding, and imagine what a Temple of their own might look like, nestled in splendor amongst the rest. Surely now that they have gained their vengeance for the Day of Wrath, they reason, they might resume their duties and bring the way of Vishnu to a people now sorely in need of guidance. Those of the Caravan of Memory, long the outcast of their people with an indistinct role, look to the great Jewel and it's rebuilding and see a chance to win for themselves a true home at last, a place to at long last shed the shame of being not quite good enough to join the others.
Others look to the horizons, to the worlds beyond the Sands of which they have heard so much and which their need to remain always near to the Jewel has kept them from exploring. Those of the Caravan of Commerce see opportunity for great wealth to be found in distant lands that the less brave would dare not explore, while their cousins among the Caravan of Entertainments thing longingly of all the new people, and the new stories, that surely lay beyond the Sands.
With troubling tales drifting from the South, more and more of the Ra'Shari from all four of the Great Caravans look to their people's ancestral homeland, wondering if perhaps the lore of the Chronicles, having saved one kingdom, might now be needed to save another.
The Ra’shari currently stand as a growing power within the city. Their decision to maintain close ties to the city has resulted in increased trade with the city, and profits for the Ra’shari. Their newly formed joint caravan expedition has faced considerable trouble in coming to fruition, though assistance from the strange new alliances the Ra’shari have been pursuing has assisted greatly. Perhaps the strangest result of the last six months has been the closer ties that the Ra’shari have with both the Ebonites and the Yodotai, as all three formed the Joint Strike Force that battled the forces of Kali-Ma, all three grew close in the following months, and eventually the Ra’shari turned to the Ebonites for assistance in teaching some of their students the art of battle. What this could mean for the future however is still up in the air.
Future
The Ra’shari are pushing back, subtly, against the encroaching forces of Kali-Ma. Keeping an eye on them, cursing scouting parties into becoming lost in the desert where they inevitably meet their demise. If the Burning Sands belong to anyone, it belongs to the Ra’shari, and those who would seek to wrest that control from them will find their lives greatly shortened.
Leaders
The Great Caravan of Mysticism
Ichefka is a handsome woman of middle age who has been overseeing the Caravan of Mysticism for the last five years or so. She, like most before her, was chosen by the omens. When her predecessor Sterani, an ancient man of nearly eighty, foresaw his own death, he called together each leader of the assorted smaller Caravans for a rare instance of ritual divination. He had forseen dark times ahead and wished the perfect successor.
Just now, it looks to most of those involved as if too many cooks have spoiled this particular soup.
Ichefka has proven time and time again a distinct inability to prophesize as the head of the Great Caravan of Mysticism is expected to. She has missed numerous signs of doom, the latest of which was the extent of the Civil War that broke out in Medinaat al-Salaam. The true warning had come from a smaller Caravan, from a young seer named Hanzi that she had placed there just a few months before. Truly Ichefka’s gift is not in seeing the future but seeing the worth of people. She has an incredible talent for seeing people placed in the right position at the right time.
There are those however who wonder if the Caravan of Mysticism shouldn’t just cut out this apparent middle-man though. Things seem to be growing more dangerous as time goes on, and if not for the warning from another, many from their Caravan may have died during the fighting. A small minority have begun calling on Ichefka to step down from her position and to let another be chosen. Ichefka, for her part, sees no reason to step down. She was chosen for a purpose, a purpose she intends to see fulfilled one way or another.
The Great Caravan of Entertainment
When people of the Jewel write tales or plays or poems of dashing Ra'Shari tricksters, of men so manly they make other men weep or tear out their beards in despair, Plamen is the model for nearly all of them. He took power a decade or so ago, the youngest to do so in several generations, based upon sheer panache and drive to push his people to ever-greater fame. With the Awakening finished he is eager to win his people the reknown they deserve. A man in his early thirties, he has sired at least a dozen children (that he knows of) and has seduced dozens, if not hundreds, of women (and a few men, if the tales are to be believed). An 'artist's artist', he is gifted in virtually every performing art known to man and has been known to make even the strangely emotionless Ashalan weep with the beauty of his songs. His people universally adore him and he in turn uses his charm and growing influence to better all of their lives.
Plamen usually prefers to keep his people out of dangerous situations, figuring that while they may make an amusing tale one day, his people are not meant for such dangerous tasks. They listen, of course, wherever they perform and if it comes to pass that what they learn might be of use he'll pass it along to his fellow Masters, but until that time, he has instructed his followers that the tellers of tales belong outside of them, not in the center. They should instead, he has decreed, look to the new stories that arise as a new way is found not only by themselves but the other peoples of the Sands and even beyond them, for this is a time of great change...which of course means greater stories to be found and shared.
The Great Caravan of Commerce
The oldest of the current Masters, Shandor has led her people for the last thirty-five years or so. Aged beyond her years by the strain of being the one to supply four Caravans, more or less, after the upheaval of the Awakening, she shows the lines and marks of every one of her sixty-odd years on her face. None of it has detracted from her sharp mind and her gaze, piercing as a hawk when it comes to spotting an opportunity, hasn't faded in the least. She has her fingers in many pies in the Jewel and is one of the few people not of the Dahabi that the heads of those Houses know and respect, though most would never admit to such.
Childless due to the horrors of war and hardships of a traveler's life, Shandor has begun to look among the juniors of other caravans for a potential successor. Three currently vie most prominently for that position, at least in the minds of the rest of the Caravan; Orsko, one with ties of blood and long friendship with the Dahabi; Kefka, a young woman with one of the finest minds for long-term investments and planning as has come from the Caravan in an age, and Herin, one who looks likely to succeed if for no other reason than accruing enough of a fortune on his own merits as to buy the votes of at least half the lesser Masters outright. Shandor herself has said nothing, only watches and listens with her usual inscrutable expression, dangling the position like a sweet before a child to get the most out of all of the hopefuls, for the betterment of everyone.
The talk of succession is on nearly everyone's lips, yet the talk of the bounty to be had now that the Ra'Shari are not bound to the Jewel is a close second. In response, Shandor has begun moving more of her Caravans east, looking to open new trade routes with the Rokugani who are so cautious of outsiders. She has called upon Plamen to join her there, figuring his sweet talking may get the Ra’shari into Rokugan where all others have failed.
The Great Caravan of Memory
Youngest of the Masters, Emelian is, to look at, nothing special. He is perhaps twenty-five, not particularly muscular nor handsome, neither overly tall nor particularly short. He, like most of those of the Caravan of Memory, is average, less than rumor paints the Ra'Shari as a people, and should be overlooked because of it.
Once he speaks, however, mere physical attributes are as nothing.
Emelian, more than any other who has lead the Caravan in memory living or dead, seeks to better the lot of his people. He intends not only to improve their standing within the Caravans but in the world and, indeed, the worlds beyond. Where the people of the Caravan of Mysticism murmur of perhaps returning to the old ways here, Emelian firmly espouses the need to return to the lands that were once theirs by right, to the land that others, less worthy, have failed to protect. His people, he reasons, kept the Chronicles and saved the Jewel, saved the Sands. There is no reason, then, that they should not save the Ivory Kingdoms and, in so doing, earn back a homeland and the prestige that comes with that.
It was Emelian’s push that has led to the recent foundation of the expeditionary force of Ra’shari to scout Kali’ma’s position. It was the young Master of the Great Caravan of Memory who worked closely with the Ebonites to see his people trained to be the Ruvsero, the Wolfhead. Some say that for his next trick, Emelian will enter the fallen Ivory Kingdoms themselves.
History
PastMerchants, entertainers, tellers of fortunes and keepers of lore, the Ra'Shari are all these things and more. Once keepers of wisdom in one of the most glorious temples ever seen in mortal realms, their path was forever changed during the Day of Wrath. Like so many others, they fled the destruction and were very nearly destroyed by their ignorance of how to survive in the harsh desert so much of their lands had become. It was the Ashalan, already foreseeing what was to come when next the Nameless Not-God rose, who gave them life and purpose, assigning to them the duty of preserving certain secrets from that time to this. Though divided in purpose, the four great Caravans yet maintained a sense of community, of unity of purpose, through means known only to themselves. Each foot would tread thousands of steps, yet always their presence was felt in and about the Jewel. There was, and still is, no place in the city one cannot go where they will not hear tales of both great daring and dark villainy about the Keepers of the Chronicles, half of which are true, and half of which are either gross exaggeration or completely unaware of the true role the wandering people played.
During the Awakening, it was the Ra'Shari's silvered tongue that swayed the invading forces from destroying the great lore of the Qabal, thus fulfilling their former role as sages. Their advice guided the mercy of the Ebonites, the salvation of so many fulfilling their former role as priests and protectors. When all was past, the Ra'Shari yet remained...and yet the duty that had driven them for a thousand years was gone, their purpose fulfilled. They rejoiced...and then, slowly, they began to wonder.
They were a free people now...but free to do what?
Present
Great debate has arisen among the People who Travel, though as of yet there is no true antagonism, only many choices to be weighed and measured. Some, primarily those of the Caravan of Mysticism, look upon the Jewel, the many areas yet razed and in need of rebuilding, and imagine what a Temple of their own might look like, nestled in splendor amongst the rest. Surely now that they have gained their vengeance for the Day of Wrath, they reason, they might resume their duties and bring the way of Vishnu to a people now sorely in need of guidance. Those of the Caravan of Memory, long the outcast of their people with an indistinct role, look to the great Jewel and it's rebuilding and see a chance to win for themselves a true home at last, a place to at long last shed the shame of being not quite good enough to join the others.
Others look to the horizons, to the worlds beyond the Sands of which they have heard so much and which their need to remain always near to the Jewel has kept them from exploring. Those of the Caravan of Commerce see opportunity for great wealth to be found in distant lands that the less brave would dare not explore, while their cousins among the Caravan of Entertainments thing longingly of all the new people, and the new stories, that surely lay beyond the Sands.
With troubling tales drifting from the South, more and more of the Ra'Shari from all four of the Great Caravans look to their people's ancestral homeland, wondering if perhaps the lore of the Chronicles, having saved one kingdom, might now be needed to save another.
The Ra’shari currently stand as a growing power within the city. Their decision to maintain close ties to the city has resulted in increased trade with the city, and profits for the Ra’shari. Their newly formed joint caravan expedition has faced considerable trouble in coming to fruition, though assistance from the strange new alliances the Ra’shari have been pursuing has assisted greatly. Perhaps the strangest result of the last six months has been the closer ties that the Ra’shari have with both the Ebonites and the Yodotai, as all three formed the Joint Strike Force that battled the forces of Kali-Ma, all three grew close in the following months, and eventually the Ra’shari turned to the Ebonites for assistance in teaching some of their students the art of battle. What this could mean for the future however is still up in the air.
Future
The Ra’shari are pushing back, subtly, against the encroaching forces of Kali-Ma. Keeping an eye on them, cursing scouting parties into becoming lost in the desert where they inevitably meet their demise. If the Burning Sands belong to anyone, it belongs to the Ra’shari, and those who would seek to wrest that control from them will find their lives greatly shortened.
Leaders
The Great Caravan of MysticismIchefka is a handsome woman of middle age who has been overseeing the Caravan of Mysticism for the last five years or so. She, like most before her, was chosen by the omens. When her predecessor Sterani, an ancient man of nearly eighty, foresaw his own death, he called together each leader of the assorted smaller Caravans for a rare instance of ritual divination. He had forseen dark times ahead and wished the perfect successor.
Just now, it looks to most of those involved as if too many cooks have spoiled this particular soup.
Ichefka has proven time and time again a distinct inability to prophesize as the head of the Great Caravan of Mysticism is expected to. She has missed numerous signs of doom, the latest of which was the extent of the Civil War that broke out in Medinaat al-Salaam. The true warning had come from a smaller Caravan, from a young seer named Hanzi that she had placed there just a few months before. Truly Ichefka’s gift is not in seeing the future but seeing the worth of people. She has an incredible talent for seeing people placed in the right position at the right time.
There are those however who wonder if the Caravan of Mysticism shouldn’t just cut out this apparent middle-man though. Things seem to be growing more dangerous as time goes on, and if not for the warning from another, many from their Caravan may have died during the fighting. A small minority have begun calling on Ichefka to step down from her position and to let another be chosen. Ichefka, for her part, sees no reason to step down. She was chosen for a purpose, a purpose she intends to see fulfilled one way or another.
The Great Caravan of Entertainment
When people of the Jewel write tales or plays or poems of dashing Ra'Shari tricksters, of men so manly they make other men weep or tear out their beards in despair, Plamen is the model for nearly all of them. He took power a decade or so ago, the youngest to do so in several generations, based upon sheer panache and drive to push his people to ever-greater fame. With the Awakening finished he is eager to win his people the reknown they deserve. A man in his early thirties, he has sired at least a dozen children (that he knows of) and has seduced dozens, if not hundreds, of women (and a few men, if the tales are to be believed). An 'artist's artist', he is gifted in virtually every performing art known to man and has been known to make even the strangely emotionless Ashalan weep with the beauty of his songs. His people universally adore him and he in turn uses his charm and growing influence to better all of their lives.
Plamen usually prefers to keep his people out of dangerous situations, figuring that while they may make an amusing tale one day, his people are not meant for such dangerous tasks. They listen, of course, wherever they perform and if it comes to pass that what they learn might be of use he'll pass it along to his fellow Masters, but until that time, he has instructed his followers that the tellers of tales belong outside of them, not in the center. They should instead, he has decreed, look to the new stories that arise as a new way is found not only by themselves but the other peoples of the Sands and even beyond them, for this is a time of great change...which of course means greater stories to be found and shared.
The Great Caravan of Commerce
The oldest of the current Masters, Shandor has led her people for the last thirty-five years or so. Aged beyond her years by the strain of being the one to supply four Caravans, more or less, after the upheaval of the Awakening, she shows the lines and marks of every one of her sixty-odd years on her face. None of it has detracted from her sharp mind and her gaze, piercing as a hawk when it comes to spotting an opportunity, hasn't faded in the least. She has her fingers in many pies in the Jewel and is one of the few people not of the Dahabi that the heads of those Houses know and respect, though most would never admit to such.
Childless due to the horrors of war and hardships of a traveler's life, Shandor has begun to look among the juniors of other caravans for a potential successor. Three currently vie most prominently for that position, at least in the minds of the rest of the Caravan; Orsko, one with ties of blood and long friendship with the Dahabi; Kefka, a young woman with one of the finest minds for long-term investments and planning as has come from the Caravan in an age, and Herin, one who looks likely to succeed if for no other reason than accruing enough of a fortune on his own merits as to buy the votes of at least half the lesser Masters outright. Shandor herself has said nothing, only watches and listens with her usual inscrutable expression, dangling the position like a sweet before a child to get the most out of all of the hopefuls, for the betterment of everyone.
The talk of succession is on nearly everyone's lips, yet the talk of the bounty to be had now that the Ra'Shari are not bound to the Jewel is a close second. In response, Shandor has begun moving more of her Caravans east, looking to open new trade routes with the Rokugani who are so cautious of outsiders. She has called upon Plamen to join her there, figuring his sweet talking may get the Ra’shari into Rokugan where all others have failed.
The Great Caravan of Memory
Youngest of the Masters, Emelian is, to look at, nothing special. He is perhaps twenty-five, not particularly muscular nor handsome, neither overly tall nor particularly short. He, like most of those of the Caravan of Memory, is average, less than rumor paints the Ra'Shari as a people, and should be overlooked because of it.
Once he speaks, however, mere physical attributes are as nothing.
Emelian, more than any other who has lead the Caravan in memory living or dead, seeks to better the lot of his people. He intends not only to improve their standing within the Caravans but in the world and, indeed, the worlds beyond. Where the people of the Caravan of Mysticism murmur of perhaps returning to the old ways here, Emelian firmly espouses the need to return to the lands that were once theirs by right, to the land that others, less worthy, have failed to protect. His people, he reasons, kept the Chronicles and saved the Jewel, saved the Sands. There is no reason, then, that they should not save the Ivory Kingdoms and, in so doing, earn back a homeland and the prestige that comes with that.
It was Emelian’s push that has led to the recent foundation of the expeditionary force of Ra’shari to scout Kali’ma’s position. It was the young Master of the Great Caravan of Memory who worked closely with the Ebonites to see his people trained to be the Ruvsero, the Wolfhead. Some say that for his next trick, Emelian will enter the fallen Ivory Kingdoms themselves.